Note: Before anyone asks... the song in this chapter is an original piece.
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As Josh swooped down on the edge of the Everfree forest, a shudder went down his spine. His mind was still fresh with the memory of what the EPA had put him through and he was not eager to go through the place where his life nearly ended again so soon.. but if what the Cutie Mark Crusaders had shown him just a few days prior was still where it was before... Then it was likely that would be where he could find Rarity's little sister.

"C'mon... where is it....c'mon....", he repeated to himself as he flew across the treetops, keeping his eyes scouted around... and it was then he saw it.... "A-ha!!!!"

As he made his descent to the ground, he found himself looking at the big wooden playhouse that Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle had christened "The Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse". He had barely gotten onto the wet grass before a warm and serene voice reached his ears...

Sleep my love until the day awakes..
To breathe life in you once again...
Caressing softly your gentle face..
Until the daylight ends.....

"That's Sweetie's voice!!"

It took him all of ten seconds to climb up the rampways leading into the open entrance and, sure enough, he found himself looking at a shaking white and purple-pink bundle huddled in the corner near a window and allowing the moonlight to shine down upon them. The angelic voice he'd heard just moments before was coming from that bundle and immediately, Josh knew what he was looking at.

"Sweetie Belle?", he called out, "Sweetie, Josh's here. It's ok..."

Slowly, Sweetie Belle's song stopped and the unicorn raised her head slightly, not letting the teen see her face. "....Why'd she yell at me?"

"Sweetie... are you ok?"

Slowly the unicorn turned around towards the human and soon, Josh and Sweetie Belle found themselves looking at each other and the sight of the little unicorns face, crumpled in tears, made his heart burn. Before he knew it, the little unicorn had rushed over to him and buried her head in his jacket, letting more of the sobs she'd been letting out since her sister had roared at her come out as the teen just held her close and rubbed her mane.

"Sweetie, just take a deep breath..... tell Josh what happened...", he cooed to the filly.

"I... I just offered to wipe her down...", Sweetie Belle choked out through her tears, "I offered to give her a Cutie Mark Crusader Bubble Bath, even offering my special bubblegum shampoo.... But... but she just screamed at me.... She told me to get out of her sight..... That's when I came here...... I didn't mean to make her mad at me......."

Josh just shook his head in dismay and gave the unicorn a kiss on the tip of her horn. "It's ok... I calmed her down.... But she's going to be doing some apologizing and cleaning tonight.... Do you want me to take you back home?"

Sweetie Belle shook her head, the tears still falling fresh down her cheeks. "I don't want her to yell at me again.... I want mom and dad!!!"

"Diamond and Jewel..... Where are they?", he asked calmly.

"They're heading to San Franciscolt to get supplies...."

"For the contest..", the two of them said in unison, causing the little filly to look up at him in surprise and sniffle.

"How'd... how'd you know, Mr. Josh?"

"I had a feeling.... C'mon... I'll see if Pinkie Pie would mind you camping out there tonight... Would you like that?"

Letting a wavery, but fragile, smile creep on her face, the unicorn nodded and unsteadily got to her hooves as Josh headed for the open exit.

"Josh?", she called out to the human, causing him to turn around, "Thanks... for finding me...."

Josh just gave the lass a small grin and a wink. "It's what I do....". But as he turned around, he couldn't help but murmur to himself...

"I think Pinkie Pie could use a little company too... even after Rarity's apology..."

"What was that??", Sweetie Belle asked, wiping her eyes with her foreleg, seeing the teen muttering to himself.

"Nothing... it was nothing.... C'mon... let's get back into town... I got one more stop for the night."

As they approached the threshold of the seperation between the clubhouse and the forest's darkness, there was one thing Josh had to know...

"Sweetie Belle... that song you were singing... what was that?"

The unicorn sniffled before she spoke up. "It was part of a lullaby my mom sings to me. It helps me when I can't sleep."

Josh couldn't help but smile at the innocence of the filly by his side. "Well it sounded beautiful... You ever thought about trying a career in singing? You could make a lot of money!"

Sweetie Belle couldn't help but let out a small giggle at the human's suggestion. "Nah, I'm more concerned with eating my cutie mark."

A snicker escaped from the teens lips at the Freudian slip from the unicorn. "You mean earning, right?"

Sweetie Belle then realized what she had said and a cathartic laugh rang out from the both of them. "I guess I'm thinking about this contest more than I thought I was. But yeah, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and I... we have one goal... to find our special talents and earn our cutie marks! Hey, maybe you could help us sometime??"

"Heh... maybe I can, Sweetie.... maybe I can... But for now... let's get back into town.."

"You got it, Mr. Josh!"

With that, the two of them left the ramshackle clubhouse and made their way back into the arms of Ponyville's loving embrace. But as they left into the darkness of the Everfree forest, Josh couldn't help but wonder one thing....

Would soothing Fluttershy be as easy?
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It took all of a half hour for the two to get back to Ponyville and even less time for Josh to take Sweetie Belle to Sugarcube corner. Getting the Cakes to allow Pinkie Pie and Sweetie Belle to have a sleepover was almost insultingly easy, the party pony back to her normal bubbly self. He knew that Pinkie Pie wasn't the kind of pony to stay sad for long... although he could see that her blue eyes still had the telltale puffiness still around them symbolizing the tears that she had shed. But Pinkie Pie had reassured him that Rarity had indeed apologized to her and now was in her boutique getting as much as she could of Rainbow Dash's meal off of her, much to her amusement. Yet even though Pinkie Pie and Sweetie Belle were busy making s'mores and telling ghost stories, Josh had one more thing he had to do before he could go up to the cloud castle he and Meowth now called home.

As he flew amidst the night air, he found himself looking for the cottage belonging to the timid counterpart to Rainbow Dash's boisterousness and adventurous streak. All the while he couldn't help but mutter to himself in disgust.

"Why did I tell her to tell Rarity Dash was sorry... why didn't I go with her to the door.... why don't I know where the bleeding hell her cottage is?!? The one house I DIDN'T go to and I have no idea wh----"

"KLONK!!"

That was as far as Josh got before he found Fluttershy's cottage... or rather his head found the branch outside her bedroom window and knocked him out. As he fell, stunned, his jacket managed to snag onto the branch and leave him hanging outside Fluttershy's window. It was lucky that the sound of his head cracking against the heavy piece of bark was loud enough to ring inside the cottage and the last thing he saw before his vision went dark was the window in front of him opening.... He didn't see the pegasus inside gasping and flying out to free him...
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"Josh... are you ok??"

As his vision cleared up, the teen found himself looking around a room decorated with birdhouses, knick-knacks, and even a classic cuckoo-clock... although right now his head felt like there were cuckoo birds flying around in his skull. Feeling around him, he could tell he was resting on what appeared to be a big fluffy couch and as he slowly sat up, he shook his head to clear his senses.

"Urg... ugh, what happened??", he groaned, rubbing his head and feeling the telltale bruise where his skull had made contact with the branch.

"You... you flew into my cottage..."

Slowly letting his eyes focus, Josh found himself looking at the tear-stained face of his pegasus friend, Fluttershy. Her cheeks were still dampened from the salty liquids she'd been shedding since she'd gotten home and away from Rarity's rage. Her face was crumpled as if it was all she could do to keep her composure and it made Josh's heart feel as wounded as his head.

"You've been crying over Rarity haven't you...", Josh whispered to the pegasus.

Fluttershy didn't answer at first, but her squeaky cries spoke for her. "I... I was just trying to help her... I was just doing what Rainbow Dash asked...."

Josh sighed before he scooted over and motioned for Fluttershy to join him, an action that was followed rather quickly. As soon as she'd gotten her tush seated on the green cushions, she found the words coming out a little better, even through the sobs in her voice were still very apparent.

"When she yelled at me.... I had to get out of there.... I... I don't like being yelled at.... I just want to make everyone happy...."

"Just like me...", the teen whispered as he placed his hand on her rose-colored mane,

Looking up in bewilderment, Fluttershy found herself looking at the smiling face of the human, rubbing his hand through her mane and the pegasus couldn't help but smile herself through her tears.

"Fluttershy, we all want that. We all want to be able to make the world happy and none of us like being screamed at. Don't worry, I chewed Rarity out for that."

"Chewed her out?", Fluttershy asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"I broke down her door and slapped her after she made you AND Pinkie Pie cry. Being barfed on does not an excuse for screaming like a spoiled child make. I didn't like slapping her... I'm not a violent person..."

Looking into his eyes, the pegasus could see there were still ebbs of regret in his hazel irises. "Then why'd you do it?"

A sigh escaped the teen as he shook his head sadly. "She wouldn't stop screaming... and she compared what happened to her to what happened to me... and I just lost it. I'm trying so hard to forget being fried and to have it compared to something so petty.... I just couldn't take it..."

"It's ok...", Fluttershy sniffled as she rubbed her hoof on his shoulder, ignoring the stains of vomit on his jacket, "It was wrong of her to do something like it.... she may be my friend, but she doesn't always think when it comes to reacting over things that happen. You should have seen her when she stepped in a mud puddle... she screamed like she was on fire!"

At this, the two of them couldn't help but share a big laugh. Laughing had never felt so good to the timid equine and as she wiped her green eyes, she couldn't resist smiling.

"Thanks, Josh... I needed a good laugh."

"It's nothin'.", he remarked, ruffling Fluttershy's mane as he got up to head to the doorway. It was then a thought hit him, one that he felt maybe the both of them could benefit from. "Say, Fluttershy... I was gonna go for a nighttime flight before I head back to Cloudsdale for some rest.... Ya wanna tag along?"

Fluttershy just looked at the ground shyly, pawing at the wooden floor. "Um.... Josh... I don't really fly at night that often..... I'm... more of a day flyer..."

"You sure? I thought maybe we could have a calm flight, maybe lay back on some clouds.... look at the stars?"

"Well... that does sound lovely...", Fluttershy admitted before taking a deep breath and nodding, "Ok.... I'll come along... JUST for a little bit."

"Cool!", Josh smiled and grimaced as he got to his feet, feeling the tenderness in his legs. Limping to the threshold, he opened the doorway, letting in the cool nighttime air, and took to the air, letting his wings hold him up as Fluttershy did the same. With a silent nod, Josh shot up out of the doorway and took to the night sky, hearing the fluttering of the fellow pegasi's wings behind him as well as the nervous squeaks. Turning back, he could see Fluttershy was visibly shaking from flying at night and with a gentle smile, he held out his hand for her.

"C'mon... take my hand..."

Trembling, Fluttershy put her hoof in her friends palm and let him lead her up past Cloudsdale, all the way to where the flight academy stood near the edges of Canterlot. Dash had shown him the spectacular sight only days after he'd gotten his wings, her eagerness to go flying with her new roommate surprising the teen immensely. Looking upon the magnificent sight, the two fliers felt their cares seemingly drift away in the wind.

"It's... beautiful...", Fluttershy marveled, floating besides the teen, "Rainbow Dash showed you this?"

"Eeyup.", Josh replied in his best imitation of Big MacIntosh, getting a laugh out of Fluttershy, "She showed me everything there was to being in the air the day after Meowth's party. It's like the sky is her real home.... If it weren't for you and her friends... she'd probably never set foot on the ground!"

Again, Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle. "Probably not... But I can tell you're saying it in joking, right?"

"Yeah..", Josh admitted, "Rainbow Dash is... well...... she's amazing...."

A small grin crept up on Fluttershy's face as she gave the teen a soft look. "You really love her, don't you?"

Josh took a deep breath before letting out his answer as he stared into Fluttershy's knowing gaze. "Fluttershy.... Rainbow Dash is the first real love I've ever had.... back in my world, I didn't really have anything besides my family... People always thought I was weird because of my love of the unusual like fairies, aliens, and unicorns.... of course now I know unicorns are real indeed, heh heh. But Dash... she... she makes me feel like I'm special. Like I've got not just a family again... but someone in my life to make me complete. My little Dashie... if she was a baby, I would cuddle and raise her for years upon years until I ceased to breathe...."

Fluttershy didn't say anything. She just listened intently to Josh spilling his heart out to her, her ears taking in every word.

"She makes me feel like I'm not alone anymore... I've got Meowth, sure.... but even he's because of Dash. If she hadn't kissed me back at that fire... helped me stay awake... I may have very well died....."

At this, Fluttershy knew Josh had a valid point. From what the doctors in the hospital had told her, if Josh had fallen back asleep, he could have slipped into a coma from the blows to his head. It was with Rainbow Dash's kiss that his mind was able to barely keep the teen awake.

"I owe Rainbow Dash.... hell I owe you ALL my life. But Dashie.... I owe her more than that... it's thanks to her I can see again... that I can breathe again... that I can smile again..."

It was then the sound of sniffling broke his speech and as he turned around, he could see Fluttershy wiping her eyes, tears running down her cheeks.

"Fluttershy, are you ok?"

"Josh.... that's beautiful... You really do love her....", Fluttershy wept.

"More than anyone can know... that's why I'm helping her with this contest so much... I will not let anyone ridicule my Dashie... OR my friends... I will not let Champagne take our home....."

"..... Go to her..."

Hearing Fluttershy's whisper, Josh turned in puzzlement to the pegasus. "Pardon?"

"Go to her, Josh.... help her train... I know she's gotta be scared."

"Ok, seriously Fluttershy... You're starting to sound a LITTLE bit cheesy."

"I'm serious!", Fluttershy insisted in as loud a voice as she could muster... which was equivalent to nothing more than a dull roar, "Think about it.... she's going to be pushing herself through a nightmare for this contest... both her AND Applejack.... She needs you by her side..."

"Fluttershy, I don't need to be by her side 24/7... I love her, but I'm not a f-- ah--- I mean I'm not some overprotective coltfriend! I'm just a lover!"

"Josh, listen.... If there's one thing I know about... it's love. She CAN'T do this alone... especially with all the nausea, exhaustion, and vomiting she'll be enduring..."

At this, Josh actually sputtered a bit. "Wha?? She just got sick from one day of massive eating! What makes you think it'll happen again???"

"Because I KNOW Rainbow Dash. She'll push herself to the breaking point every time. When she was practicing the Sonic Rainboom, she crashed over a thousand times!"

"The Sonic Rainboom?", Josh asked, puzzled, "You mean the same thing mentioned in that news article in Dash's scrapbook?"

"The same... but how'd you know she had a scrapbook??"

At this, Josh merely whistled. "I just..... found it lying around, is all. You know maybe I SHOULD go check on her!"

As glad as she was, the way Josh abruptly changed the subject made her feel like Josh wasn't exactly being truthful. "Josh... is there something you're not telling me?"

The teen sighed before he gave Fluttershy his answer. "It's better you just stick with my answer... Trust me on this..."

"Is... is it to do with that nightmare of Dash's?"

This caught Josh off-guard. He didn't think anyone but him, Dash, and Meowth knew about that. "How'd..."

"One of my hummingbirds was out for a night-flight and he overheard everything.", the pegasus replied, "Don't worry... I won't tell..."

Josh found himself sighing again before he spoke. "I couldn't sleep that well after I calmed her down, so I did some reading..."

As he spoke, he found himself remembering when he climbed off the bed and crept down into Rainbow Dash's living room to try taking his mind off what Dash had confessed. Even if he didn't know the full details, it'd scared him to know dreams like that existed in a place like Ponyville. He'd stumbled across that big blue book of hers and found himself reading it and learning about some of her past achievements, including the Sonic Rainboom.

"I learned a lot about her from that book.... You know... I think I gotta get going... I got a blue pegasus to check up on. Can you go to Dash's home and tell Meowth where I am?"

Fluttershy swallowed nervously, remembering what happened the last time she'd followed a request like that. "He's not gonna yell at me, is he?"

Josh merely smiled and shook his head. "Nah, if anything he'll probably be asleep. If he is, just leave him a note. I gotta go..."

With that, Josh turned and got ready to descend back to the ground. But before he did, he turned back to Fluttershy and called out to her.

"And Fluttershy...."

"Yeah?", she asked nervously.

"..Thanks. You know there are things Twilight could learn from you... See ya later!"

As Josh flew back down towards Ponyville, he didn't notice Fluttershy blushing deeply as she watched the human slowly disappear from sight. There was one other note she knew she'd be writing when she got to Dash's home...
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Dear Princess Celestia,
I know this is a surprising time to get a friendship report, but I think I learned something. You can find romance in the most surprising of places... and animals! Don't ever think love doesn't exist... You'll find it's everywhere around you..
Signed,
Fluttershy

As the yellow pegasus finished writing her second note, the first to the cat-pokemon resting on the counter of Dash's kitchen, she knew Celestia would be happy to know her plan was working already....

Even if it took a while for the first lesson to fully manifest itself.

"I'll give it to Spike in the morning...", she thought to herself, clutching the note in her mouth and heading out the front door on her way to soar down through the night sky back home.

And for once... she didn't feel scared one bit.
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